The Lovely Bones
There are movies that tell all there is to tell for you. There are movies designed to manipulate the tears from your eyes. There are movies that are blatant in their purpose: corporate money makers, art house flicks, chick flicks, dramedies, black comedies, stupid fun and smart fun. There are movies that change your life. There are movies that waste your time. There are movies for families and there are movies for friends. There are movies that are sold in 18 plus shops where you need to be an adult to see. And then there are movies that reveal something about yourself to you. And these, these rare and beautiful things find their way to your heart, your soul and your way of believing.
The Lovely Bones as a novel already changed me. The Lovely Bones as a movie brought that change back but after losing Patrick, it drove it home in an entirely new and wonderful way.
The film takes it time. Peter Jackson forces that in all his movies really. It isn't so much about slamming from scene to scene, but meandering its way through a patient and careful story. He isn't the kind of director to jump out and yell, "Here! Look here! Now here! Feel this!" He tells the story and lets you find your own way through it. I love this. Its why I love Clint Eastwood films so much. Its never McDonald's. Its Julia Childe's 5 course meal followed with a chamomile tea and mint cookie.
Do I think everyone will love this movie? Absolutely not. If you love art, if you love creative out-of-the-box methods of telling a story, if you have an open heart and mind I think you will love this film. If you aren't a patient person or one who likes to just sit and watch and be entertained (I like these too - but its really brain candy isn't it? Better occasionally but never as a meal.)... its probably not for you.
I stayed awake last night until 3am. I couldn't let the movie go. I couldn't let Suzie Salmon go into that good night. I dreamed dreams for two hours and at 5am I was awake again. And today, I find myself reflecting on the imagery and the symbols of the film rather than the horror of her story.
Mark Walberg was terrific in this role. His gentle strength was used in the best way I've seen yet. Stanley Tucci was perfection - if that's a word I should even use to describe his character. The star of the film is Saoirse Ronan. She is from Ireland, but her middle-American accent is dead-on (pun not intended). Her blue eyes and strawberry blonde hair frame a face that is Every Girl. She is your/my daughter. And her railing against what she has lost and what she grieves for brings a dimension to loss and grief that I had never really considered. What that is exactly is for you to discover, its innocence and purity pitted against the current morality will remind you what life was like in the 1970s. In fact, the innocence of the time is the guilty party here as much as anyone.
So, find this movie. Go see it. If you carry a loved one's memories in your heart... this movie will speak to you in ways I cannot begin to explain. Of course, you could always just pick up the novel.
The Lovely Bones as a novel already changed me. The Lovely Bones as a movie brought that change back but after losing Patrick, it drove it home in an entirely new and wonderful way.
The film takes it time. Peter Jackson forces that in all his movies really. It isn't so much about slamming from scene to scene, but meandering its way through a patient and careful story. He isn't the kind of director to jump out and yell, "Here! Look here! Now here! Feel this!" He tells the story and lets you find your own way through it. I love this. Its why I love Clint Eastwood films so much. Its never McDonald's. Its Julia Childe's 5 course meal followed with a chamomile tea and mint cookie.
Do I think everyone will love this movie? Absolutely not. If you love art, if you love creative out-of-the-box methods of telling a story, if you have an open heart and mind I think you will love this film. If you aren't a patient person or one who likes to just sit and watch and be entertained (I like these too - but its really brain candy isn't it? Better occasionally but never as a meal.)... its probably not for you.
I stayed awake last night until 3am. I couldn't let the movie go. I couldn't let Suzie Salmon go into that good night. I dreamed dreams for two hours and at 5am I was awake again. And today, I find myself reflecting on the imagery and the symbols of the film rather than the horror of her story.
Mark Walberg was terrific in this role. His gentle strength was used in the best way I've seen yet. Stanley Tucci was perfection - if that's a word I should even use to describe his character. The star of the film is Saoirse Ronan. She is from Ireland, but her middle-American accent is dead-on (pun not intended). Her blue eyes and strawberry blonde hair frame a face that is Every Girl. She is your/my daughter. And her railing against what she has lost and what she grieves for brings a dimension to loss and grief that I had never really considered. What that is exactly is for you to discover, its innocence and purity pitted against the current morality will remind you what life was like in the 1970s. In fact, the innocence of the time is the guilty party here as much as anyone.
So, find this movie. Go see it. If you carry a loved one's memories in your heart... this movie will speak to you in ways I cannot begin to explain. Of course, you could always just pick up the novel.
i LOVED this book and was very cautious when I heard it was coming out in movie form. I figured it'd be a difficult book to adapt to the big screen. I'm glad you liked it.. Maybe i'll venture to see it before it hits dvd.
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